


Reality Check

by Blue_Hood



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Fantastic Four (2015), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Defenders (Marvel TV), Thor (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Renegotiated Sokovia Accords, BAMF Tony Stark, Eye of Agamatto, Fix-It, Marvel Universe, The Defenders - Freeform, The Tesseract (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23178292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Tony was raised to take over SI and when his parents died unexpectedly, he had to navigate a sea of sharks. Iron Man was born after the one man he trusted turned traitor. Together, they are the last person you should mess with.
Relationships: Avengers Team & X-Men Team, Fantastic Four (Team) - Relationship, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 193
Collections: Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart





	Reality Check

Tony was never really good at dealing with people, he had people for that- namely Pepper. However there was one pseudo-person he trusted above all and that was JARVIS, who informed him of his imminent death with a warning "Sir, now is not the time for subtlety."

"Good thing that's not really my strong suit."

"Sir, you must inform Colonel Rhodes and Ms. Potts of your condition before your judgement is compromised by the heavy metal."

"Alright." And he did, giving Pepper the company and Rhodey his own suit in the spirit of his legacy, "In case I can't find a fix in time. I need to focus on finding a cure." That's when things took a turn for the worst, like dying wasn't enough.

After Coulson's little display at the factory, Tony and JARVIS hacked the super-secret surprisingly competent agency known as SHIELD. Actually, it was after he insisted on speaking to Tony without an appointment, the display of competence and advanced tech just made keeping an eye on them a priority. To say he was surprised that they tried to sneak an agent in after Coulson managed to get around his security- well, Tony wasn't sure if the palladium was to blame for his surprise because that was such an obvious power play just like SHIELD was obviously shady. Tony set Ms. Rushman up, having JARVIS pass on all the information they had on SHIELD to an assortment of legit intelligence agencies, including what they did to his dad. With the field set, he allowed Ms. Rushman access to him so they could see if she was all that and a bag of chips- she wasn't, she resorted to violence as soon as the federal agents showed up and the agents responded in kind with a headshot because they're not idiots. A full investigation into the Russian government would ensure HYDRA didn't have another Widow waiting in the wings.

The next time Tony saw intelligence agents, they brought a truckload of his dad's stolen property with a transcript showing SHIELD intended to use the goods to manipulate Tony before Agent Romanov's untimely demise. Once he was feeling better, Tony confronted Justin Hammer, "Anthony, great to see ya." He simply handed the other businessman Ivan Vanko's psych eval along with Anton Vanko's case file.

The FBI agent who came with him informed Hammer "You are being offered amnesty, turn over the fugitive and no charges will be pressed against you."

"What exactly are you accusing me of?"

Tony smiled "Nothing we can't prove, Hammer. You were under SHIELD surveillance until they decided I was the bigger fish, but they never removed their bugs and the feeds were seized with everything else."

The man paled "I'll see what I can do but first I want that deal in writing, y'know, just in case." The agent handed it over and within 24 hours the book was closed on the Vankos' story.

Tony made an announcement at the Stark Expo's closing after flying in with Rhodey. "Thank you all for coming. I would like to announce that this year's expo has been a major success but it's not quite over, feels like it kinda needs that extra oomph, the big finish and in the spirit of that, allow me to introduce my best friend Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes of the United States Air Force." Rhodey stepped out in his uniform, "Colonel Rhodes, as you can see, is piloting his very own Iron Man armor, which shall from now on be known as the War Machine armor."

Killian was child's play compared to SHIELD, Tony called up a few contacts in the bio-engineering field and found a way to stabilize Extremis then thermal satellite imaging revealed the locations of the super-soldier. Really, his motivations were just sad- after getting brushed off once at a party, he just had to go and become a terrorist so people would pay attention to him.

After that he was approached with news that they'd finally thawed Steve Rogers out and wanted his input on the Avengers Initiative. He advised they keep him contained until he completes reintegration and told them to check him for TB, citing the last entry in his laundry list of pre-serum ailments. Thor had been easy enough to deal with, he approached Jane Foster with an offer to fund her research on the condition she keep him updated on her progress; and incidents like a man falling from the sky. Banner, once he used SHIELD's files to track him down, was so grateful for his handling of Ross that he thought the man was gonna breakdown. Pepper took care of the legality but Tony did support the idea of a transparent Avengers Initiative. He even went so far as to visit Hank Pym, "Go away."

"Don't worry, I will. I just wanted to be the one to deliver this." He handed Hank a box of files, "Those are the files SHIELD kept on you, your wife and my father. I taped some flash drives to the inside of each file if you want to follow the trails, obviously one box isn't gonna cover decades of activity." Tony pulled out his wallet and handed Hank a business card, "Call me when you finish reading, I'd like to hear about dad if you're up to it."

"Thank you, Stark."

"No problem." Tony turned and left.

His next stop was Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters. He called ahead from the car, making sure he was close enough for the Professor to scan. With him in the car was all of the X-Men's files, which had been protected by Mutant Affairs and given to Tony to return. Secretary McCoy had been pleasantly surprised to find Tony Stark had taken steps to protect the mutant files and by extension, the anonymity of the mutants in question. This discovery is what prompted him to give the billionaire the go-ahead to deliver the files. Sitting down with the X-Men was surreal, Tony had grabbed one box before he came in and he laid out the contents of that box, which were labeled on the side, on the table in front of him. "As your friend McCoy can tell you, I haven't read any of these, I just had my AI isolate anything regarding the Enhanced in the database and bar access. You're probably wondering why I care."

Scott said "Yeah."

"Simply put, I don't." At their shocked looks, he said "I've been asked to revive the Avengers Initiative, a SHIELD program where Enhanced individuals and a couple agents are put together to handle large-scale threats. Long story short, it's to blame for SHIELD's fall- they attempted a power play because they wanted me for the latest iteration. I've been asked to revive the program as a failsafe measure. Way I see it, we don't need one team that has no idea what we're doing to defend the planet if it comes to that. An alliance of heroes is better than a single team. Whatever you need, within reason, I'll provide it. Hell, I'll even find a way to make a contract as mutual insurance, if you want."

Professor Xavier said "That won't be necessary. We accept your offer." They shook on it.

"These are your files by the way, just the basics. The rest of the files are in the car, if you want them. I don't really know what to do with all the other mutant files but you can have all of yours."

"Thank you, Dr. Stark."

Hank Pym called him while he was planning his next move in regards to the superhero alliance- and working on a better name- he asked Tony to swing by next time he was in California. Stark Tower was in the works along with renovations on a compound upstate to train Enhanced persons. The Tesseract was an interesting puzzle, in that Tony had no idea what to do with it. He flew out to Cali to meet Dr. Pym and met his daughter Hope Pym- she changed it back once she read over the files he'd provided. The Pyms surprised him by asking his advice on Darren Cross. Tony answered simply "Call the authorities. Your Pym Particles are patented technology. Even if the patent office thought it was a joke, they still provided the patent. He's stealing your intellectual property because you refused to let him have it the legal way." He told Hope, "You can kick him out of the company after he's arrested, let the authorities seize his money as ill gotten gains because he wouldn't have the connections for this if it was his first deal." He sat back, telling Hank "Get another apprentice, I'm supposed to put together a roster for a new, legit Avengers Initiative in case HYDRA got away with SHIELD's highly dangerous research. Anyone you choose will automatically make the list, with your permission. I need to tie you to the Initiative so that it doesn't look shady when I ask you to take an advisory role, an apprentice would be perfect. Even if you keep Ant-Man in the mothballs, a good apprentice can carry on your research. Lord knows the kind of things Erskine might've gone on to do."

"I'll think about it, the apprentice thing. The other stuff, we'll definitely do."

Tony said "Full disclosure, I already have a suggestion for an apprentice. Scott Lang, electrical engineer and self-styled modern day Robin Hood. Look into him at least and keep any cloak and dagger stuff to a minimum so he doesn't sound crazy if he has to explain how he knows you."

"Sure thing."

Tony was struck by a sudden idea, he called up Jane Foster and asked her where she was working at the moment then brought in the Tesseract for her and Dr. Selvig to study. "I want you to keep safety to a maximum. All we know about this thing is that it gives off low-level gamma rays, HYDRA used it to make weapons in the 40s, Red Skull appeared to have disintegrated just by touching it and it's most likely alien." He handed over the files as well as a packet detailing safety procedures, the latter he gave to Darcy Lewis the self-proclaimed science-wrangler.

When Loki arrived, he was immediately taken down by a full power blast from Cyclops before Wolverine secured the scepter and Professor X scanned his mind to remove outside interference. He gave a full report of his findings to the UN under the Enhanced Accords, which gave all Enhanced persons legal rights. Upon waking up, the Trickster God was met by Tony Stark, who said "Let's cut to the chase. You can stay here as a member of the Avengers Initiative, assuming you're willing to disclose the details of your journey here. Or we can send you back to Asgard with your big brother Thor. Your choice but as an Avenger, you'll have to undergo an intense education program to bring you up to speed on Earth culture and history before you even begin your training to join the roster." Predictably, he chose the Avengers over Asgard and Thor took the Tesseract to Asgard after explaining what it was.

After the Fantastic Four fought off Dr. Doom, Tony approached them to extend the same offer of an alliance- minus turning over their SHIELD files- ditto for the Defenders, who he asked to mentor Spider-Man upon discovering the boy's identity and forcing him to tell his aunt the truth. Doctor Strange approached him, "I understand you're the man to speak to about defending this world."

Tony looked him in the eye "You're wearing an Infinity Stone, you can drop the act."

"What?"

He pointed at the Eye of Agamotto "That has an Infinity Stone in it and you know it."

"How did you know-"

"Thor briefed us on the Stones in exchange for the Tesseract. Now, what do I call you?"

"My name is Dr. Stephen Strange."

"God, it's like you were born for this with that name, Strange. Why are you here?"

"I am the Sorcerer Supreme, charged with protecting this world from other dimensional threats and the safekeeping of the Time Stone."

"I see. You want to join the Avengers Initiative so you can stay in the loop about threats to the Stone?"

"Yes."

Tony pulled a packet out of his desk and slapped it down in front of Stephen, "Read, sign and turn it in to the UN. I'm sorry but it sounds like you don't qualify for the Initiative, however you most likely qualify as a separate entity. Be prepared to explain who you are, what you do and why we should trust you with an Infinity Stone."

"Okay."

"See you around."

Professor Xavier would freely admit he was impressed by everything Tony Stark had accomplished.


End file.
